National Principal’s Conference: iCanHelpLine Is An Important Resource To Help Make Social Media Safer For Students

Regardless of the recommended age to join today’s social media networks, most students, entering even the third grade, have had some sort of social media exposure. There are certainly plenty of kids across the United States, and under the age of 13, with Facebook accounts, Twitter accounts and Snapchat accounts. While most social media interactions are innocent enough, with school aged children, social media can also be a threat.

Troubesome students have brought the school yard bully to the digital screen. Often times those same social networks that are sharing soccer practice with grandma and grandpa and a piano recital with uncle John, are used for other things like harassment, cyber bullying and even straight up threats.

The iCanHelpLine acts as a consultant, counselor and advocate when social media safety boundaries are crossed. If a student is being cyber bullied, threatened or otherwise harmed via social media, the iCanHelpLine can advise teachers and administrators what the next steps to be taken should be. They can also act as an advocate with the major social networks to get harmful content removed, quickly.

“iCanHelpline.org provides social media support when schools need it the most. When online harassment or bullying happens, we help school staff navigate apps and services, report abuse and get content deleted that violates the app’s Terms of Service, customizing help to each case.” the company says on their website.

iCanHelpLine has been instrumental in helping students through their teachers and administrators. They’ve helped in cases where inappropriate content has been shared cross platform. They’ve helped get inappropriate school dating sites taken down and they were even able to help when nude photos of a middle school student were being shared on the private messaging platform Kik.

” A middle school counselor called about nude photos of one of her students being shared on the Toronto-based Kik messenger app, apparently by another student. She had reported the case to local law enforcement and gotten no response. Kik deleted the account.” iCanHelpLine described.

Teachers, administrators and principals already have a lot on their plate, and while they all take cyber and social threats and safety violations seriously, it’s great to have a resource they can turn to like iCanHelpLine.

iCanHelpLine’s website does remind teachers, parents and administrators that if somebody’s safety is at immediate risk to call law enforcement or 911. If nude photos or sexting is taking place they should also report it to law enforcement right away. iCanHelpLine is instrumental in helping to get the social media accounts responsible for these horrific safety breaches, deleted in a very timely fashion.

iCanHelpLine will be at the National Principal’s Conference in Philadelphia, July 9-11th, booth 1022 and find them online at icanhelpline.org